Set in England in 1950 and narrated by 11-year-pld Flavia de Luce, this is a sort of Golden Age mystery with some wit and quirkiness thrown in. Flavia herself is precocious, chemistry-obsessed and rather mischievous, and I liked her voice very much. Alan Bradley, despite being Canadian, catches the background and language of the period very well, with just one or two insignificant lapses, like “bangs” to mean a fringe – definitely NOT in 1950s England! Flavia is an engaging character and, once it really starts to move, the plot is interesting and reasonably plausible, as a sinister visitor turns up dead in the cucumber patch, Flavia’s father is accused of murder and as she investigates, some historical philatelic skulduggery emerges.
Don’t look for gritty realism here, but it’s a very entertaining read, with some rather interesting snippets of arcane information thrown in. I’ll be reading more of this series and I can recommend this one.
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